LASTMA Confiscates 27 Commercial Buses

The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has impounded 27 commercial and private vehicles for violating prescribed loading limits and safety standards.

The coordinated enforcement exercise was conducted after repeated warnings were issued through multiple public sensitisation platforms.

According to LASTMA’s spokesperson, Adebayo Taofiq, the operation was executed in accordance with the directive of its General Manager, Mr. Olalekan Bakare-Oki, following heightened concerns over the risks posed by overloaded vehicles on major arterial corridors and densely trafficked inner-city routes.

He added that LASTMA enforcement Officers’ field assessment exposed a pattern wherein motorists, particularly operators of commercial vehicles, indiscriminately burden their vehicles with assorted goods, including bulky items and perishable commodities, stored indiscriminately within luggage compartments and precariously mounted atop vehicle roofs.

The agency noted that such unsafe practices grossly obstruct rear visibility, destabilise vehicular balance and impair a driver’s situational awareness of approaching traffic, especially during overtaking manoeuvres, thereby increasing the probability of avoidable road traffic collisions.

Bakare-Oki further reiterated that vehicular overloading constitutes a serious contravention of the State’s traffic laws, posing grave dangers not only to the occupants of the offending vehicles but also to other road users.

While describing the scenario as “an unsightly and perilous spectacle,” he decried the rampant overloading of commercial buses, private cars and even articulated vehicles with goods and scrap metals in blatant disregard for public safety.

However, he reaffirmed the Agency’s zero-tolerance stance against all traffic infractions that imperil lives and property, warning that enforcement actions against defaulters will remain sustained, intensified and unequivocally uncompromising.

The Agency also urged all motorists to adhere strictly to stipulated loading capacities, maintain unobstructed visibility at all times and prioritise roadworthiness and safety in their daily operations.

“The Agency remains resolute in the execution of its statutory mandate to enforce traffic laws professionally, equitably and without prejudice in furtherance of the Lagos State Government’s unwavering commitment to a safe, orderly and efficient transportation system across the State,” LASTMA said.

It urged members of the public, particularly motorists, to report any commercial or private vehicles found to violate prescribed loading limits via the LASTMA Toll-Free Hotline: 0800-005-27862 for swift action.